Mad as L: Locals who moved to avoid L closure steaming over change in repair plans

So much for planning: Williamsburg straphangers who left their homes by Bedford Avenue and other L-train stations for good in the run up to part of the line's long-planned closure are furious now that service won't be suspended after all.

Brooklynites who fled Williamsburg and Bushwick to avoid the 15-month L-train closure are enraged over Gov. Cuomo’s last-minute decision to call off the plan that many say forced them to uproot their whole lives.

“We specifically moved because of the shutdown, it would have made work impossible,” said Whitney Lopez, who with her fiancé moved from their apartment near Bushwick’s Morgan Street L-train station to a pad on the border of Gowanus and Park Slope last month.

The couple would have simply renewed their lease on the Bushwick apartment — which Lopez said cost about $250 less per month than their new place — had they known the long-promised L-pocalypse was a years-in-the-making false alarm, she said.

“We had such a good deal for our old place,” Lopez said. “It feels so disrespectful. He definitely does not care about what’s actually happening in New York City.”

Officials with the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority began warning straphangers that the line’s East River–spanning Canarsie Tube, which sustained severe damage in superstorm Sandy, may close for more than a year’s worth of repairs in early 2016.

And later that year, they announced they would shutter the Tube for 18 months — which later dropped to 15 — to restore it, starting a great migration from residences along the North Brooklyn line that only grew larger as the clock ticked down to the closure’s previously announced start date of April 27.

Indeed, a Park Slope broker said that roughly 30 percent of all condos he sold in nearby Carroll Gardens since October went to buyers fleeing Williamsburg — some of whom locked themselves into contracts just days before Cuomo’s 11th hour announcement.

“I know people who already picked up and moved,” said Peter Perez, who works for real-estate firm Douglas Elliman. “I know somebody who’s in contract and their whole reason for moving was the L-train shutdown. It’s insane.”

Another former Williamsburger left her old apartment near the L train’s Montrose Avenue station in June for a Park Slope pad, where she pays roughly the same price for a smaller space occupied by more roommates, she said.

The recent transplant doesn’t regret her move, but said she would have never ditched her former spacious spot if she knew Cuomo planned to stop the L-train closure at the 11th hour.

“In terms of what I could afford, it had everything I wanted,” said Mahwish Mahbub. “I like the apartment I was in.”

Those who did not flee Williamsburg, however, should not necessarily expect smooth rides along the L line following the unexpected change in plans.

The state’s new proposal still requires at least 20 months of repairs once the job kicks off in April, according to officials, which will take place on nights and weekends to allow continued, reduced service throughout the job.

And transit leaders already said that some previously promised alternative-commuting options — such as dedicated Williamsburg–Manhattan ferries, and a high-occupancy vehicle lane across the Williamsburg bridge — will likely get scrapped, leaving commuters with less ways to cross the river once the work begins.

Reasonable discourse

How hypocritical the governor is. There goes three years of our own busy lives. Its #CuomosMTA in a nutshell. I guess he's still aspiring to run for president in 2020.

Jan. 4, 7:21 pm

Old time Brooklyn from Slope says:

A good laugh indeed

Jan. 5, 12:32 pm

Reagen from Upper Weehawken, NJ says:

We moved from a 3 bedroom apartment in central Williamsburg to a junior studio north of Weehawken because of the subway closure! The move cost us over $45,000 !!!
Now our luxury apartment in Upper Weehawken is worthless! No one wants to live in New Jersey because it’s a trashy dump!!!
I find this all very unfair!! They said they were going to close the subway - so now they can’t just open it!! I am going to sue to force them to keep it closed!! I don’t care if they can run trains, screw them!!!

Jan. 5, 1:39 pm

Kimber from Yonkers says:

This paper made it into such a fuss, just to publish sponsored content from real-estate people in New Jersey. You aren’t reporting the news, you’re just reporting for whoever pays the most!

Jan. 6, 8:32 am

Kimber from Yonkers says:

Also, you idiot, do you know the difference between “less” and “fewer”?!?! :
‘leaving commuters with less ways to cross the river once the work begins’
Less ways??

Jan. 6, 8:33 am

Mathematician from Brooklyn says:

If they really loved the neighborhood as much as they claimed they wouldn't have moved just because it would take them longer to get to work for a few years. The Montague Street tunnel was closed for over a year, N train stations have been closed in alternating directions for over a year each way, did huge numbers move out of southern Brooklyn?

Jan. 9, 10:35 am

Corey Wayne from Park Slope / Gowanus says:

Steaming indeed! Likely made the same move as Whitney Lopez. I was in a beautiful loft located between the Montrose and Morgan L stops that I had been in for 4 years. I had local coffee shops where I would frequently endugke without being charged, local late night food spots that knew my burrito order and most of all a sense of community. Now I’m in a new mid-rise on the cusp of Park Slope and Gowanus that feels desolate and isolated. Understand that this is better as a whole for Brooklyn (real estate), but makes me sad all the same.

Jan. 9, 12:36 pm

Old time Brooklyn from Slope says:

Corey - poor baby

Jan. 10, 3:13 pm

How did I become an old-timer? from The Heights says:

I'm sorry for the people who had to move and lost money. But I'm more sorry for the people who can't move and who have no voice in this paper. The vast majority of people on the L did not move, yet there is a small majority that is fixated in criticizing Cuomo that they would rather ignore than try to solve the problems of transportation in NYC.
Cuomo's move to avoid the L train shutdown was sloppily done and undercut years of preparation. But it strikes me that keep the L open helps a lot more people than it hurts.

Jan. 13, 2:36 pm

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